Outfielder ‘Relieved’ He Didn’t Have to Play for Angels After Injury

An outfielder who spent one season with the Angels reflected on a pivotal play in a lengthy X post.

Los Angeles Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun (56) and outfielder Matt Joyce (20) celebrate the 4-3 12 inning win against the Minnesota Twins during game one of a doubleheader at Target Field on Sept. 19, 2015. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Eleven years have passed since Matt Joyce sustained a concussion in an outfield collision at Angel Stadium. If there was any question whether that play formed a lasting memory for the retired outfielder, Joyce answered it in a 500-word post to his Twitter/X account on Friday.

Ironically, the time Joyce spent on the injured list was the high point of his 2015 season.

2015 was supposed to be the year that changed my life.

Instead, it almost ended my career.

I was 30 years old and entering my free-agent season. The year where you perform, sign the big multi-year contract, and set your family up for life.

I worked my butt off that offseason.… pic.twitter.com/Gk6OPLVyUR

— Matthew Joyce (@MattJoyce247) September 4, 2026

For better or worse, Joyce recovered in time to play seven games in September 2015. He went hitless upon his return, shaving four points off his already-low .178 batting average. Only one player in Angels history (Roger Repoz in 1969) had finished a season with a lower batting average in at least 250 plate appearances.

Remarkably, two players have had a more futile season at the plate in 11 years since Joyce's only season in Anaheim: Danny Espinosa in 2017 (.162) and Brandon Drury in 2024 (.169).

Joyce's batting average was already weighing on him mentally before Erick Aybar's knee came crashing into his head during a July 2015 game against the Texas Rangers.

"The season I thought was going to secure my future ended with me wondering whether I would ever play in the big leagues again," Joyce wrote on Twitter/X. "And if I'm being completely truthful, part of me was relieved. I didn't have to walk to the plate in front of 40,000 people and struggle anymore. That's how badly the season had beaten me down."

In what proved to be the Angels' most recent season with a winning record, Joyce's injury opened up a spot for Shane Victorino to take over in left field. The veteran played the final 38 games of his career with the Angels after being acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, slashing .214/.292/.286 — a slight improvement over the man he replaced.

Joyce's career was far from over. He signed several more contracts and played six more seasons — with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2016), Oakland A's (2017-18), Atlanta Braves (2019), Miami Marlins (2020) and Philadelphia Phillies (2021) — before he retired.

"When I looked back on that year, I realized how much time I spent obsessing over things I couldn't control," wrote Joyce, whom the Angels acquired in the December 2014 trade that sent pitcher Kevin Jepsen to the Tampa Bay Rays. "I had become so focused on what baseball could give me that I got away from simply playing baseball."